GRE vocab 3

Question 1

dilettante

Answer 1

n. a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.

Question 2

apex

Answer 2

n. the top or highest part of something, esp. one forming a point.
v. reach a high point or climax.

Question 3

apogee

Answer 3

n. the highest point in the development of something; the climax or culmination.

Question 4

eschew

Answer 4

v. deliberately avoid using; abstain from.

Question 5

vituperate

Answer 5

v. blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language.

Question 6

orotund

Answer 6

adj. (of the voice or phrasing) full, round, and imposing.

Question 7

brusque

Answer 7

adj. abrupt or offhand in speech or manner.

Question 8

sanguine

Answer 8

adj. optimistic or positive, esp. in an apparently bad or difficult situation
n. a blood-red color

Question 9

arrogate

Answer 9

v. take or claim (something) for oneself without justification.

Question 10

acrimonious

Answer 10

adj. (typically of speech or a debate) angry and bitter.

Question 11

harbinger

Answer 11

n. a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another.

Question 12

cosset

Answer 12

v. care for and protect in an overindulgent way.

Question 13

quaff

Answer 13

n. drink (something, esp. an alcoholic drink) heartily.

Question 14

imbibe

Answer 14

v. drink (alcohol).

Question 15

obviate

Answer 15

v. remove (a need or difficulty)

Question 16

Daedalean

Answer 16

Daedalus. an Athenian architect who built the labyrinth for Minos and made wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape from Crete.

Question 17

Gordian

Answer 17

Gordian. pertaining to Gordius, ancient king of Phrygia, who tied a knot (the Gordian knot) that, according to prophecy, was to be undone only by the person who was to rule Asia, and that was cut, rather than untied, by Alexander the Great.

Question 18

picayune

Answer 18

adj. petty; worthless.

n. a small coin of little value, esp. a 5-cent piece.

Question 19

paltry

Answer 19

adj. (of an amount) small or meager

Question 20

ebb

Answer 20

v. (of tidewater) move away from the land; recede.

v. (of an emotion or quality) gradually lessen or reduce

Question 21

aver

Answer 21

v. state or assert to be the case.

Question 22

opine

Answer 22

v. hold and state as one’s opinion.

Question 23

exigency

Answer 23

n. an urgent need or demand.

Question 24

conflagration

Answer 24

n. an extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property.

Question 25

Rubicon

Answer 25

n. (in piquet) an act of winning a game against an opponent whose total score is less than 100, in which case the loser's score is added to rather than subtracted from the winner's.